hovey



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

G. F. HOVBY. APPARATUS FOR REDUCING THE DENSITY OP ILLUMINATING GASES.No. 273,843. A Patented Mar.13,1883.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 O. F. HOVEY.

APPARATUS FOR REDUCING THE DENSITY 01-" ILLUMINATING GASES. No. 273,843.Patented Mar. 13,1883.

I a. J Ifllllllllllllllllllllumm N. PflERs. Phmtrbllwgnphur. Washington.11c

UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE;

CHARLES F. HOVEY, OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE GILBERT& BARKER MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

APPARATUS FOR REDUCING THE DENSITY F lLLUMlNATlNG-GASES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 273,843, dated March13, 1883,

Application filed May 22, 188-2.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, CHARLES F. Hover, acitizen of the United States, residing at Spring field, in the county ofHampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and usefulImprovements in Apparatus for Reducing the Density ofIlluminating-Gases, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in valve devices adapted to beinterposed'at the point of union of a gas and ofan air current betweensaid currents, as they tlow either into a gas-holder or to a point ofconsumption in a hydrocarbon-gas apparatus, the object being I toprovide improved devices of this class for producing a proper mixture ofsaid gas and air, and to so govern the gas and air passages in saidvalves as to cause the requisite proportions of said aerii'orm fluids tobeadmitted to said holder or conveyed to the place of combustion.

In the drawings forming part of this specitication, Figure I is a view,partly in section, of an ordinary gas-holder and tank having 2 appliedthereto a gas-and-air-mixing valve constructed according to myinvention. Fig. II is a transverse section through the valvecase onlineg 3 Fig. I, but showing certain detail parts in full lines. Fig. Illis a side ele- 0 vation of the mixing-valve with its air-inlet andcross-valve cover removed.

In the drawings, II indicates a gas-holder tank provided with a centralvertical passage, m,and supported upon suitable legs, as shown,

5 to provide room beneath it for the gasand-airmixing valve, which isbolted to the bottom thereof, as seen in Fig. I. The gas-holderh is ofthe usual construction. The vertical and transverse lines marked a;through said tank 4.0 and holderindicate broken lines therein.

The gas-and-ainmixing valve consists of the case A, mainly ofcylindrical form, provided with a flange around its upper end, wherebyit is bolted to the under side of tank H, and

5 with an air-inlet and valve-box, D, and a gas- :inlet, B, opposite tosaid inlet D. Said case is also provided with an outlet, E, upon oneside, near its lower end, for the outward passage of the mixed gas andair from the case A and (No model.)

from the holder h, and has two slots formed in its sides at the base ofeach of the inlets B and D, the slot at the base of inlet B beinglettered s, and that at the base of D being lettered t. A cap, to, isscrewed onto the lower end of said valve, making it gas-tight at thatpoint. The case A is finished true and smooth in its interior, and has astop-ring, z, fitted in its upper end, the lower edge of which is on aline with the upper ends of said slots 8 and it.

Two semicylindrical cut-oft valves or gates, c c, are fitted to move upand down in case A, in close contact with its sides and over said slots8 and t therethrough. Said valves 0 c are provided with suitableconverging arms, as shown, to support the two halves (l d of a centralhollow 'hub, whereby a free passage is formed centrally between thevalves 0 c to permit of an unobstructed movement of gas or of thecontents of holder h downward toward the outlet E. Thecontiguousinnersides of said hubs (l d for a certain distance each side of theircenters are parallel; but at each end. thereof they are of a hollowconical form. A valve-rod, 0, whose upper end is secured to the roof ofthe gas-holder h, has a conical formation, w, near its lower end,adapted to fit between the upper ends of the hubs d d, and from thencesaid rod extends downward between the parallel sides of said hubs, andsufficiently below their lower ends to permit of screwing a nut, cc,thereon. A cone-shaped plug, to", is placed on rod 6 above nut m and isby the latter forced between the lower ends of said hubs, and the samemovement of said nut draws the cones between their upper ends. Thus byturning nut 00 the valves or gate-soc are caused to be forced laterallyagainst the sides of case A, or that portion thereof surrounding theslots 8 t therethrough. closely enough to prevent the passage of gas orair between said valves and case, and to compel any incoming flow ofsaid aeriform fluids to pass only through such portion of said slots asthe position of said valves may leave uncovered. 5 A cut-off block, 0,is fixed to the side of the valve 0, and is adapted to fit closelyagainst the opposite edge of the slot t in case A, and

is of the same thickness as the side of said case at this point, itsouter face being in the same plane as the Hat face b of the valve-box atthe base of the inlet D, as clearly shown 'in Fig. 111, and its upperedge is even with that of the valve upon which it is secured.

The face d of the aforesaid valve-box upon the side of case A, at thebase of the air-inlet D, is finished to a true surface, and a fiat-facedcut-off valve, 1, is tightly fitted to said surface, and is adapted tobe moved transversely across slot t (more or less) by the screw-rod c,which is fixed to turn in opposite sides of the valvebox without movingendwise. A nut, a, moves back and forth on saidv rod 0, and one edgethereof occupies a position between two upstanding projections on theback of valve '5, (one of which projections is shown broken off in Fig.I,) and between thelatter and said out a spring, f, is interposed, whichoperates to press valve '6 tightly against the face b.

The screwed inlet D, together with the valvebox, of which the latter isa part, is bolted to the face I) on case A. I

The rod 0, connecting the gas-holder IL with the valves 0 c, isadjustable vertically in the roof of said holder, to which it isattached, whereby said valves maybe caused to occupy any desiredposition relative to the slots 3 and t when said holder is down. Thegas-holder may be weighted or counterweighted, as is ordinarilypracticed, to adjust it to such pressnre as it is desired to maintainupon the supply and delivery pipes of the apparatus.

The operation of my improvements is as follows: The holder h and thevalves 0 0 being in their lowest positions, leaving the slots 8 t open,the gas and air pipes, connected at B and D, are opened, letting gas andair flow through said slots to the interior of the valve, and thence outat the outlet E and up into holder it through passage m to such anextent as to cause the latter to operate vertically and to govern theposition of the valves 0 0' within case A. The force of the pumpssupplying the currents of gas and air and the weight of the gas-holderare, as usual, adapted one to the other, soas to keep up asupply-current through outlet E at nearly an unvarying pressure, he

the draft by burning more or less. The holder is welghted to cause it,under ordinary burning-pressure, to retain valves 0 c at a certainposition relative to the lower ends of slots 3 t,

. and to leave .such openings through the latter,

when valve '5 lies partly over slot t, as are requisite for the passageof gas and air in proper proportions when the gas is of anordiuary ormedium weight and richness; but when, as is often the case, thegenerator has been freshly supplied with gasoline, the gas becomes toorich and gives out much smoke, screw e is turned to draw back valve '5and increase the air-opening through slot t, and when from theexhaustion of the gasoline at the generator the determined by the upwardposition of the former in slot t and the transverse position of thelatter across said block and slot.

riable from time to time according to the regularity of the supply ofgas and air and the quantity burned, so that the vertical movement ofthe holder increases and reduces the openings through slots 8 and t.

What I claim as my invention is- 1. The gas-holder h, the tank H, havinga central vertical passage, at, opening into said holder, the valve-caseA, secured to said tank under said vertical passage, and pro ided withthe gas and air inlets B and D, and with the slots .9 and t in itssides, and appliances within said case A, connected centrally with saidholder, whereby by the movements of the latter the openings through saidslots are increased or reduced, combined and operating substantiallyasset forth.

2. In combination,the tank H,provided with the passage m, the holder h,the rod 6, secured centrally and adjustahly tosaid holder and providedwith the conical part 90, the case A, having gas and air inlet slots inits sides, the valves 0 0, having the sectional hubs d d, the plug :0and nut m substantially as set forth.

3. The case A,havingthe slot t therein, and provided with a valve-box onone side, having a valve-face, b, valve 0, having the block 0 thereon tofit between the sides of said slot, and having its outer face even withsaid face I) of the valve-box, the valve '1", having a bearing upon saidface b and the face of said block 0, capable of adjustment, by meanssubstantially as described, transversely across said CHAR LES F. HUV EY.

\Vitnesses:

H. A. CHAPIN, 1t. F. HYDE.

